The Climate Emergency Institute respectfully makes this submission
to the 2012 Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable
Development.

By all environmental and economic indications, it looks like this UN
sustainable development conference is our best chance to prevent
the collapse of all human civilization, for all time.

What are the expectations for the outcome of Rio+20, and what are the
concrete proposals in this regard, including views on a possible structure of
the Outcome document?

Our hopes and expectations are as follows. In general, we expect
that:

1. All governments will affirm that our Mother Earth (Mother
Nature), the community of Earth species, and the future
survival of humanity are our most sacred trusts.

2. Nations will acknowledge that a state of global
environmental emergency exists due to accelerating
atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations, and that fasterthan-projected climate change impacts are coming on top of
other ongoing global environmental degradations.

3. Nations will agree that our best hope for survival is the
rapid and full implementation of the intentions and terms of
the 1992 Rio Earth Summit conventions and agreements. We
have no time to "reinvent this wheel."

4. Environmentally destructive subsidies (both direct and
indirect) will be stopped forthwith. Direct fossil fuel subsidies
will be switched to rapid development of clean, zero-carbon
energy.

5. Nations will acknowledge that the loss of the Arctic summer
sea ice is potentially catastrophic to the northern hemisphere
and to the planet, through loss of albedo cooling on top of
committed* further global warming.

*The global temperature increase to which we are already committed today
is 2.4°C, according to the climate science (Ramanathan and Feng, 2008,
PNAS, On avoiding dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate
system). This projection excludes inevitable further warming by large Arctic
carbon feedback emissions and excludes the warming from loss of Arctic
summer sea ice.

On the global climate change emergency, we expect that:

6. Nations will acknowledge that today's committed additional
global warming, accelerating atmospheric greenhouse gas
Pollution, and unprecedented and still accelerating
atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations mean that the
climate situation is "far beyond dangerous interference with
the climate system" and risks global climate catastrophe.
. "Climate change is coming at us faster, with larger impacts and bigger
risks, than even most climate scientists expected as recently as a few
years ago."
. "The stated goal of the UNFCCC ? avoiding dangerous anthropogenic
interference in the climate ? is in fact unattainable, because today we
are already experiencing dangerous anthropogenic interference. The real
question now is whether we can still avoid catastrophic anthropogenic
interference in climate."
. "There is no guarantee that catastrophe can be avoided even if we start
taking serious evasive action immediately."
? Dr. John Holdren (now science adviser to the US administration),
Meeting the Climate Change Challenge Lecture, 2006, Woods Hole.

7. Nations will agree that the atmospheric concentration of
carbon dioxide must be reduced to below 350 ppm of CO2
(versus 390 ppm today), with equivalent reductions of the
concentrations of other long lasting greenhouse gases to avoid
global climate catastrophe.

8. Nations will acknowledge that the science is definite**, and
that only zero carbon dioxide emissions can possibly allow the
atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration to drop.

**IPCC 2007 WG 1: Frequently Asked Question 10.3

If Emissions of Greenhouse Gases are Reduced, How Quickly Do Their
Concentrations in the Atmosphere Decrease?

"While more than half of the CO2 emitted is currently removed from the
atmosphere within a century, some fraction (about 20%) of emitted CO2
remains in the atmosphere for many millennia. In fact, only in the case of
essentially complete elimination of emissions can the atmospheric
concentration of CO2 ultimately be stabilised at a constant level."

Our comments on existing proposals for sustainable development:

We applaud the exemplary work of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on
the global climate emergency and the great work of the United Nations
Environment Program on educating humanity on the rapidly deteriorating
state of our planet.

We believe that the economic conversion to sustainable development, as
defined by the 1992 UN Rio Declaration and comprehensively planned by
Agenda 21, is the best if not only chance we now have for our common
survival.

We attach in poster format our latest State of the Climate Science, showing
that, as UNEP has said, "the potential for runaway greenhouse warming is
real and has never been more clear." ? UNEP Year Book, 2009. (For all we
know, it may already be too late.)

We attach our report on committed food productivity losses that will result
from today's committed global warming and climate change, which shows
catastrophic losses for huge human populations and losses for all regions.

Our views on implementation:

The economic and energy conversions demanded by the global climate
change planetary emergency are also the measures needed to achieve the
objectives of the green economy and poverty eradication. The only way to
implement these in short order (or likely at all) is by nations implementing
in full the extant agreements that nations made at the 1992 Earth Summit.

On specific cooperation mechanisms:

It has to be recognized that the survival of all populations (of all species,
hence crucial biodiversity) living in all regions is now threatened by the
rapidly increasing risk of global ecological and world economic collapse. If
all nations agree to move to a green ZERO-CARBON economy as rapidly as
possible, then the "level playing field" of one global goal and commitment
will enable and enhance international cooperation rather than competition.

On the relevant time frame:

We are all in a planetary emergency with no time left for anything but
emergency action.

Background

The proposals are good but they all need to be implemented on a global
emergency basis.

The international negotiations under the 1992 UN Framework Convention
on Climate Change are making no substantive progress. It is therefore
essential that global climate change be placed at the top of the 2012
Rio+20 agenda.

In 2007 nations acknowledged the following findings by the UNEP GEO-4
consensus process:

"There are no major issues raised in Our Common Future for which
the foreseeable trends are favourable. And, this may threaten
humanity's very survival.""Climate change is a global priority, yet there is a remarkable lack of
urgency and a woefully inadequate global response."

"The need couldn't be more urgent and the time couldn't be more
opportune, with our enhanced understanding of the challenges we
face, to act now to safeguard our own survival and that of future
generations."

"The systemic destruction of the Earth's natural and nature-based
resources has reached a point where ? the bill we hand on to our
children may prove impossible to pay."

The 1992 UN Framework Convention on Climate Change is an excellent
convention. The clear intention of the UNFCCC is the reduction of global
greenhouse gas emissions to ensure climate safety for all future
generations. Climate safety is clearly and specifically defined in the
Convention.

In 2012, nations must affirm that they are unconditionally bound by the
intention of the Convention to prevent irreversible climate change damages
(adverse effects) to global ecosystems and to regional managed
agricultural systems. They must affirm that they are required to prevent
damages (adverse effects) to human population health.

The 1992 Agenda 21 is the "UN blueprint" that nations agreed to and no
better plan exists. Nations are expected to reaffirm and make Agenda 21 a
binding obligation and a rapid priority. Everything in Agenda 21 still applies
today ? in fact, even much more so.